CURRENT STATUS OF PLANT BREEDING AND PROPAGATION: WHERE ARE WE GOING IN THE TWENTY-FIRST CENTURY - A UNITED STATES PERSPECTIVE

Floriculture has benefited greatly from the development of new cultivars and innovative propagation systems over the past century and especially during the past four decades. We are now entering the age of biotechnology and its application to flowers will result in a "quantum leap" in our knowledge and in our abilities to develop new cultivars which are designed to increase productivity, quality and diversity of products. Emphasis for future research will include clean stock, host plant resistance to pests and diseases, postharvest quality, efficient nutrition, and stress tolerance. Of critical importance will be the development of cultivars and production systems which will be neutral with respect to their impact on the environment. Progress will be linked to the maintenance of genetic diversity and in the development of innovative methods to preserve germplasm.